Gucci Owner Kering Sees Sharp Drop in Operating Profit After Weak Revenue

By Andrea Figueras

Gucci owner Kering said it expects to deliver sharply lower operating profit in the first half of the year, after it posted a worsened performance for the first three months.

The French luxury-goods giant booked revenue of 4.504 billion euros ($4.80 billion) for the first quarter, down 11% in reported terms compared with the year-earlier period. The result came in line with analysts' forecasts of EUR4.51 billion, according to a poll of estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.

On a comparable basis, revenue fell by 10%.

"While we had anticipated a challenging start to the year, sluggish market conditions, notably in China, and the strategic repositioning of certain of our Houses, starting with Gucci, exacerbated downward pressures on our topline," Chairman and Chief Executive Francois-Henri Pinault said.

Write to Andrea Figueras at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-23-24 1214ET